Byl císař Josef II. tolerantní?
Was Emperor Joseph II Tolerant?

Summary/Abstract: This paper (presented at the Ecumenical Council in Litomyšl on 15 September, 2002 to coincide with the European Cultural Heritage Days) analyses the reasons for the publication of the Edict of Toleration of 1781 which permitted other religions associated with the Reformation, such as the Lutherans and the Helvetics, and the Orthodox religion to exist beside the governing Roman Catholic religion in Austrian monarchy. Emperor, Joseph II, took this political and religious step only out of necessity, not because of Enlightenment tolerance, as is often wrongly assumed in our non-Catholic environment. Similarly, Joseph II was not against the Catholic Church in any respect when he abolished many monasteries and when he tried to “modernize” conservative forms of Catholic administration and religious life through varying reforms. Naturally, the aim of these reforms was to manipulate the majority Catholic Church in order to establish an absolutist state control and administration. This mistaken interpretation still surviving in the Catholic environment misrepresents the real interests of the Emperor in instituting these reforms. This is not to present new findings, but to remind us of the importance of these factors in Czech religious history.

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